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20TH ANNUAL HANOHANO CHALLENGE STARTS 2016 OFF WITH A BANG

February 08, 2016

SAN DIEGO, California – Once again, Mission Bay in San Diego hosted the 20th Annual Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge and the event did not disappoint. With gloomy skies for the majority of the day, the attitudes and demeanors of the athletes and spectators were anything but. Every direction you looked you saw smiles and heard laughter and cheers. The Hanohano is notorious for being a classic event with nothing but fun on offer and this year it once again lived up to that reputation.

The 2016 Hanohano once again provided an amazing day for paddlesports athletes. | Photo: Supconnect

The Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge is one of the longest running paddlesport Races in California (OC-1, Surfski, Traditional Paddleboard, Standup Paddleboard and Kayak). They have always had a great mix of top level professional athletes and beginners from ages 7-80 and this year was no different. We saw some of the biggest names in the sport attend the event, athletes such as Danny Ching (404, FCS), Candice Appleby, Kai Lenny (Naish), Brennan Rose, Slater Trout (Boardworks) and tons of other accomplished and notable athletes in the sport. We also saw Jonas Letieri, a Brazilian athlete who has one of the most inspirational stories in SUP, come to town and compete in the event. (Stay tuned for our full interview with him!)

The start to the short race saw hundreds of paddlers take to the water at once.Photos: Supconnect

Hundreds of paddlers take to the water in Mission Bay, San Diego.Photo: Supconnect

This year, the Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge saw 300 standup paddlers take to the water in the close to 600 pool of paddlesports participants. At around 9:30am we saw these paddlers take to the water and start the day off with the short course of 4.5 miles. With a massive number of paddlers on the start line and a tight turn around the first jetty, paddlers had to negotiate their way through the crowd in order to get around the corner without getting stuck in the middle of the pack with no room to break away.

Danny Ching leading the pack.Photo: Supconnect

Danny Ching, a frontrunner coming into any event, was able to (at no surprise) jump right out in front and lead the way for the rest of the paddlers. It was not an easy feat for Danny to take the top spot at his first event of the year as paddlers Chase Kosterlitz, Chuck Glynn and Noa Hopper were only seconds behind him on the finish line. While Chase Kosterlitz and Chuck Glynn came in at 2nd and 3rd in the 14’ Open 19-39 division behind Danny Ching, overall, Noa Hopper who competed in the Under 19 division came in at just 8 seconds behind Danny Ching whereas Kosterlitz and Glynn came in at 10 and 11 seconds behind Danny. Big kudos to the up-and-comer Noa Hopper for having such a great day on the water. The new mentorship from Danny Ching and the 404 crew is clearly making an impact on the 16-year-old paddler.

Overall, the Hanohano is a killer event and one that sets the tone for the stand up paddle race season with positivity, excitement and friendly competition. We’re stoked to one again have attended the event and look forward to the year ahead.

See below for the full list of results from the 2016 Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge.

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